By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Seeing dead people included in the list of Task Force El Niño members submitted to Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel, the Office of the Ombudsman has lifted the suspension order on more than 20 National Food Authority (NFA) personnel linked to the alleged irregular sale of rice buffer stocks to favored traders.
“Ang tanong lang namin, kung listahan ng task force ng El Niño, bakit sinama ‘yung mga kawani na patay na? Ano ‘yung purpose noon? Niloloko niyo ang Secretary of Agriculture?” Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Friday (15 March 2024) in a television interview.
He explained that the suspension order was lifted after investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman found erroneous data on the list provided to them by the Department of Agriculture (DA), which supposedly sourced the list from the NFA.
“Kung may pagkakamali sa listahan na iyan, hindi namin kasalanan iyon. Hindi ko alam kung sino nanloko sa amin (It’s not our fault if there were errors on the list. I have no idea who tried to hoodwink us),” Martires said in the Dobol B TV interview.
He disclosed that among the NFA personnel whose suspension was lifted were warehouse supervisors in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“After conducting initial investigation ng mga imbestigador namin, itong nirekomenda nila na i-lift ang preventive suspension sa mga warehouse supervisors sa Iloilo, Antique, Cabanatuan, hasta NCR. Basta mga 23 lahat ‘yun,” he said.
Martires also revealed that before the 23, they had already lifted the suspension order on one NFA employee.
The Ombudsman said the NFA claimed that they thought that the list being sought was for a list of members of the task force for El Niño.
He said they are also investigating who is behind the “erroneous” list.
(el Amigo/MNM)
